YOUROWNDEMOCRACY is a concept project that proposes an independent real-time voter sentiment feedback loop merging social networking, direct political engagement, and the design of electronic market exchanges to create a modern online platform for participatory democracy.
YOD is an on-going personal project and will evolve with the collaboration of many smart people this project seems to be attracting. Full documentation and open participatory blog coming soon. (Note: Obama's fantastic Change.gov is a small step in the direction of the YOD proposal...compare the two to see the differences.)
2008 Buckminster Fuller Institute Challenge Submission
Original GONGBLOG post about YOD with comments
YOD one of 33 Finalists! (updated 04-30-09)
Willow's first swimming lesson at the community pool. I had pulled my back the day before, so it was a little excruciating to be moving around in the shallow kiddie pool, but it was worth it. She had a blast.
In NYC in March, we met one of the families who travelled with us to China for a reunion at our favorite Chinese restaurant, Congee Village. Here, Willow and Samantha get silly after not seeing one another for over a year. Samantha has grown healthy and strong, happy as can be.
Bonnie and Willow blowing out the candles in an incredible cupcake tower for Bonnie's birthday made by our dear friend Lynn.
One of Willow's favorite things to do is to empty the dish cabinets and make elaborate scale utopian urban cityscapes on our kitchen floor. While stripping.
Rummy, an almost 4 year old Dutch Warmblood gelding, is the newest member of the Schwartz Szeto clan. He's an incredible athlete and is as curious about Willow, as she is about him.
Willow peeping through a hole in the dressage arena gate, at Bonnie working with Rummy and trainer Alex.
My new '09 Kawasaki Ninja, bought as a little gift to myself post-quitting-job, and pre-midlife crisis. My trusty Yamaha TW200 is still with me, and always will be. Small displacement bikes rule. The weather FINALLY turned here recently. Time to ride...a LOT.
Mar 28, 2008 at 09:46AM 3 Comments According to this, I am much more British than American. No surprise.
More from The Economist: [via Reddit]
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Reader Comments (3)
You arent British, you are sane
I am startled to find how mainstream I am. More so, when I read your “about me ... ” and I realized that on top of mainstream, I am—all right, not old—but aging. As if that is significantly different.
The thing about no longer being—let’s say—young, is that I am starting to look for rapid answers. To all that ails us as a country, a race (the human), and a world. This may be in recognition of the fact that there is likely more behind than ahead, tho’ in my case not much less ahead, I believe.
The aging, tired, mainstreamer that I am wants to say that all can be solved by the free distribution of all information and knowledge. Consumerism, not so much, tho' I still like stuff. Conveniently, making books allows me to feel a part of the solution, rather than the problem.
I think I will add you to my blogroll so that I remember to read you regularly. Please feel free to take a gander at my blog.
For the record—in re: your top-left survey question—I can’t get my mind around no beginning. No end is fine. But there had to be something to kick it all off, right?
stephen,
i think it's natural to become more reflective as you age (it is the case for me). i, too, like stuff. there's a lot of "good stuff" out there to consume, and sometimes it's even life-enhancing. but "stuff" will never replace real human experience. think of two broad categories of things: tools and toys. we need tools to perform the tasks of living, we desire toys to mitigate the stresses of life's realities. both are valid. the degree to which we respectively consume them is an individual thing, and much can be ascertained about where one is in life by the tools and toys he/she posseses.
i have recently experienced great personal loss, and what am i doing other than grieving? shopping online. there you have it.
thanks for writing. and i will definitely check out your blog.
g